Diego heard the rush of surf, and smelt salt spray, before he saw anything of the ocean outside. The glimmer of light shone from afar, and he could see sparkles of reflected light dancing on the cave ceiling, as water was introduced to the cave.
He stopped, realising that the cave had a river running through it at this level. The sound of surf meant the ocean was close by. It might present them with further problems, but at least they would be out of the cave.
His ankle was jarred a little by the action of stopping, and he rested against the wall, trying to keep his weight off it. If he kept up a steady rhythm with his walking, he could minimise the pain, but a decent rest would do him the world of good.
"Diego!" He could hear Victoria's voice echoing behind him somewhere, and he glanced back the way he had come. "Diego! Where are you?"
Diego considered making his way back to her, and started hobbling. He didn't see the debris on the cave floor, and tripped, landing on his hands and knees. Grazes and scratches and cuts and bruises….he sat on his bottom with a grimace. Then he laughed at himself and his pride.
"There you are. Are you alright?"
"Just having one of those days, Victoria."
She opened the bag of supplies and sorted through it.
"I doubt there is anything useful in there, Victoria."
"You'd be surprised. I have bread and cheese, and water pouch and a flagon of this…whatever this is."
Diego glanced at her as she uncorked it, and sniffed the flagon hesitantly. "So, what is it?"
"Something strong and very distasteful….Never experienced such a potent brew in all my life, and that's saying something." She passed it to him, and he sniffed it experimentally.
"Some sort of homemade spirit….smells like….I'm not sure."
"Well cork it up. If we want to light a fire, we don't want everything going up around us."
"We can't stop yet. The tide might be coming in, and into the cave."
"We can't be that unlucky, Diego…"
"With this day, anything's possible…"
She glanced around at the cave. "Those sparkles on the ceiling are pretty," she murmured. "How do you suggest getting out of this one, Diego?"
"It would help if we knew for sure if the tide was an issue."
"If it was, how long before we'd know?"
Diego shrugged. "We should just concentrate on getting out."
"I agree, I'm sick of being trapped down here."
Diego used the wall to help himself back to his feet. Victoria packed the things back into her bag, and rushed to support his right arm.
"So much for legendary balance…."
"Pride goes before a fall, as they say….Is that why you are covered in bruises?"
"Not funny, Victoria. Ahh…very not funny."
They made their way to the end of the tunnel and peered out. Starlight reflected on the water, and Victoria was admiring the beauty of the place, while Diego frowned. It didn't open out onto a beach like he had hoped. The rocky shoreline consisted of slippery boulders, and crashing waves. On a better day he could have scaled the cliffs that rose above them, but his ankle would not take too kindly to that treatment for long.
"Wow," Victoria breathed, considering the landscape around them.
"I think the tide is coming in," Diego said.
"How do we get out?"
"We go up," Diego said, pointing.
"I have a rope in here, and a spare one back there."
Diego glanced back the way they had come. The tide was rising, they had no time to go back and fetch the second rope.
"One will do," Diego murmured. He formed a lasso and roped a sturdy gnarled tree stump high enough above them to start them off.
"There's another cave or something up a little higher. It looks like it is above high tide mark," Victoria said hopefully. "If we make it to there, we can stop."
Diego looked where she pointed, and nodded. There was another one to the right of them, and they wouldn't have to climb too high before he made it there. It would only take a swing on the rope to get them across.
Diego gestured her to start climbing. When she had progressed a little, he started.
"Diego, I don't know if I can do this…"
"Just don't look down, Victoria. If I can do it, you can." Diego bit his lip as the climb inflamed the pain in his ankle. "I'm right here. I won't let you fall."
"Your poor ankle," she murmured.
"I'll survive," he answered.
The noise of the surf began to be too loud to talk over quite soon, but they made slow, steady progress on the rope. Pausing on a wider ledge than usual, Diego gazed at the cave opening in the cliff, not far away. With the right momentum, he could swing them both into the opening.
"We're going to swing across to that cave over there," he informed her. She gazed at it with apprehension.
"Like swinging on my chandelier?"
"No, like swinging on a rope…We're going to take a running jump together and hold onto the rope, and swing…"
"Like the rope swing when we were children? The one by the river?"
Diego smiled a little. He had just about forgotten that swing. "Yes, exactly like that, Victoria."
He found he needed her momentum as well as his own, because his ankle cried out in agony and he faltered. She didn't, and the swing was just right. They leapt for the cave opening, and landed safely.
"Ahh," Diego sighed, crumpling to the floor. "Stupid ankle…"
"Let me have a look. No tide coming in this way, Diego."
She helped unlace the boot, and struggled a little to remove it. It had ballooned to double its normal size, and she stared at it for a moment, unsure of what to do.
"I need to rest for a while," Diego admitted with distaste. "Some elevation might help as well. Getting it higher than my heart will ease the swelling a little. Wrapping something around it will give it support…"
"Yes, yes… I know all that." Victoria searched in the bag for something to use as a supporting bandage. There was nothing. She shifted her dress, to rip fabric off her petticoat underneath.
"No, Victoria. Wait," he murmured. He unbuttoned his shirt, and shrugged it off. "Use my shirt. You don't need to ruin your clothes for me."
"You'll get cold."
"You have a blanket rolled up in that bag. I'll be fine, really." He ripped the shirt into strips to force the argument closed.
Victoria was mesmerised a little by the bare chest of her friend. Muscles flexed and moved gracefully, as he tore the shirt into strips. Scars lit up by starlight made her draw in her breath, and her fingers reached out to touch a large scar on his shoulder.
He drew in his breath in surprise, and caught her hand. Their eyes met, and she found herself looking at his parted lips. She breathed hard and fast, and he leaned towards her. His lips met hers gently at first, and then with enormous passion, that took her breath away.
She found herself lowered to the cave floor. It should have been cold, but she didn't feel it. Her body felt like it was on fire, and the only thing that mattered was Diego and his kiss.